Kinfire Delve: Scorn's Stockade - Board Game Review
- Daniel Nixon
- 2 minutes ago
- 5 min read
Type of Game: Tactical and Cooperative Card Battle
Number of Players:Â 1-2
Age: 14+
Designer: Kevin Wilson
Art Direction: Katarzyna Redesiuk
Publisher: Incredible Dream Studios
Incredible Dream Studios was present at PAX Unplugged 2024 in Philadelphia, PA and was gracious enough to provide Comic Book Yeti with Kinfire Delve: Scorn's Stockade to review.
The world of Atios was first introduced in the cooperative campaign game Kinfire Chronicles: Night's Fall. One to four players controlled one of the six Seekers and over the course of 21 scenarios fought, explored, quested and looted. The game tells a story and gets you invested in your Seeker and the world.
Kinfire Delve was the chance to learn more about this world and the Seekers that help to defend it. This time, one to two players team up in a cooperative card game to take down a Well Master and the baddies that reside in that Well. Three different versions of the game were made, Scorn's Stockade, Vainglory's Grotto and Callous' Lab. Each box contains two of the Seekers as the playable characters and a different Well Master. The Seekers decks can be mixed and matched to play any of three boxes.
CONCEPT
The Starless Nights have returned and only the light of the kinfire can drive it back. You are a member of the Seekers guild, tasked with destroying the evil that comes with the darkness. The Wells of Atios, guarded by the Well Masters, are growing in power and need to be prevented from be released unto the world. Seekers use their skills to complete challenges as they descend into the Well. Once you have made it to the bottom of the Well, you are face to face with Scorn, the Well Master. Do you have the skill, tactics and bravery to be victorious?
HOW IT WORKS
Player(s) start by choosing their Seeker, grabbing their player card, lantern card and deck of skill cards. Your health begins at ten and is shared between the two players. A Master card is chosen and placed face down between the two players. Four Well cards are placed around the Master card. These are the first four events or challenges you are able to attempt. Events are simply interacted with and just happen. Challenges have a number value and color (red, green or blue) associated to them and can be categorized as combats, obstacles, puzzles and traps. When challenges are attempted, benefits are received for winning and drawbacks for failure. The current player may play a skill card to begin making progress towards completing a challenge. The skill card will have a number value, a color and an ability. Skill card colors must match the color of the challenge being attempted. Next, the other Seeker may use their own skill cards to boost the attempt. This can be done twice. Dice are then used to see if any additional progress is added to the attempt. If the attempted progress equals or exceeds the challenge card value, you defeat the challenge and gain the reward! Rewards can vary from discarding cards from the Well deck, to regaining health, to charging your lantern, to other things. Penalties are mostly just the opposite of Rewards. Replace the completed challenge with an new card, rinse and repeat until you cannot draw anymore Well cards and you are ready to now face the Master! There are slightly different rules on how the Master can be completed, but the principles are the same.
Exhaustion is key concept to the game as well. Penalties may make you draw an exhaustion card or when you need a new hand of cards you draw. You will need to exhaust yourself because other than some cards that let you draw new cards, there is no "Draw Card" phase.
All exhaustion cards are bad. If a combination of exhaustion cards are face up you could instantly lose the game. Each card also has a scenario for a specific Seeker the would cause instant lose.
COMPONENTS
Cards, dice and some tokens. That's all you got in this box. The dice are fine and the tokens are cardboard, but the cards are tremendous! The art is amazing. The Seeker decks have foils on the back. The flavor text on the cards is just a sample size that leaves me wanting more. I want to learn more about the Seekers, the Well Masters and the world. There are other games in this universe, well now I'm off to those. Well done Incredible Dream Studios!
FINAL THOUGHTS
I love a good two player game. I love a good cooperative two player card game. I have really enjoyed my plays of Kinfire Delve. Solo with one Seeker is also an option and they even have rules for adding a 3rd or 4th player if you have more than one of the Delve versions.
I like how the characters are unique in their cards, abilities and lanterns. I enjoy the discussion what cards are held and their abilities and how best to maximize your turn. The process of deciding whether to use a card to boost an attack or to hold on to it for the ability for your next turn make for interesting and pressured decisions.
The way the you handle delving down the well ensures you don't see every event or challenge card each time you play which will make replays interesting and new. Some cards if all completed together give the option for an instant win, but only if those cards get turned over. Still searching for that win.
I really enjoyed the art. I instantly thought how it was perfect for the world of comics. Do it!!!
Kinfire Delve: Scorn's Stockade did a great of job of getting me interested in the world of Kinfire. I want to learn more, read more and play more. But do I want to play more Kinfire Delve? I'm not sure. Will the differences between the Seekers decks and the other Well Masters make additional plays fresh enough that I seek out those two boxes. It's worth a shot for one more box and I hope it is confirmed that yes, it is fresh enough and I will need to get that third box to complete the set.
That being said, I absolutely want to play the other two games in the Kinfire world, Kinfire Chronicles, as mentioned above, and Kinfire Council. Kinfire Council is the newest and billed as a competitive game of strategy and politics. Yes, I am in. If you care to find me, I'll be delving into the world of Kinfire! (Sorry I had to, I mean I'm a dad. It's kind of the rules.)
My friend, your friend, comic book friend Jimmy Gaspero played a round with me and had these thoughts...
"I was excited when I learned this game was cooperative. It gave the game more of a D&D feel, which I appreciated. The card artwork is incredible. Since the game mechanics are both card and dice based, it made gameplay more interesting than if it was just one and added a fun element of chance to developing a strategy. Gameplay was also fairly fast, which meant we could play more than one game on Game Night."Â
If you're looking for comics that have a similar fantasy vibe, Jimmy recommends:
When the Blood Has Dried:Â https://madcavestudios.com/series/when-the-blood-has-dried/?srsltid=AfmBOopTmEIMJZ1d5ee_CSuvCPILc59yWU_Qh2EC3N1pO27b3AYCxA7t&v=0b3b97fa6688
If you want more of a YA feel about characters playing an RPG:
The Last Session:Â https://madcavestudios.com/product/the-last-session-vol-1/?srsltid=AfmBOopF-PvKlrUpZXCgmF9-K3zTJ_uTCd3YtJ4pLWhM5wv56AH-czOq&v=0b3b97fa6688
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